A second strike will cost an Ephrata sex offender at least 25 years in prison.
Todd Donald Atkinson, 47, will serve 25 to 50 years in state prison, according to Lancaster County Judge James Cullen’s sentencing order Tuesday.
A local jury convicted Atkinson in April of felony counts regarding hundreds of child pornography images found on a USB drive and hard drive Atkinson used at his wife’s business in Akron.
Assistant District Attorney Janie Swinehart said in court that Atkinson accessed the child pornography while he was in sex-offender treatment for his prior offense: a 2011 conviction of indecent assault and related charges regarding a 6-year-old girl.
Swinehart said that shows the depth of Atkinson’s “deviance.”
Atkinson faced a mandatory minimum 25-year prison term because it was his second conviction of sexual abuse.
At trial, Atkinson presented a number of defense theories, including a claim that a computer “virus” resulted in the pornography being downloaded.
Atkinson is required to register his whereabouts with police, under Megan’s Law, for the rest of his life.
Pennsylvania State Trooper John Sours filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright